Psychologists have helped to form many practices in early childhood education programs. These theories on development have been researched and formulated to help us understand how and why a child develops intellectually and socially as they do. Jean Piaget’s cognitive theory focuses on the intellectual development of a child; while Erik Erikson 's theory encompasses social and emotional development.
Jean Piaget, a psychologist born in 1896, was the first person to develop a well thought out theory on connectivity in children. While employed at the Binet Institue; Piaget became interested in why children gave the wrong answers to questions and how their answers were similar (bookcite). This set Piaget on a quest to show how a child 's thought process differs from an adult 's (simplypsy). Jean Piaget’s cognitive theory consisted of three main factors: schemas, adaptation, and stages of development (simply). Piaget believed that we are all born with a limited number of intuitive schemas which grow with experiences (simply). “Piaget called the schema the basic building block of intelligent behavior”, or an idea which evolves to become more detailed with knowledge (simply). The second component of Piaget 's cognitive theory explains adaptation; how a person 's knowledge or intellect changes with new information. The three stages of adaptation are assimilation, accommodation, and equilibration. At a young age, children use assimilation to make sense of new objects and fit them into categories of things they already know (bookcite). Accommodation occurs when a child takes in new information that adds to the knowledge of what they already know (bookcite). For example instead of assuming everything that drives is a car, a child will start to accommodate new categories consisting of objects that drive such as, trucks, tractors, and minivans. Equilibration, the third phase of adaptation; occurs when a child changes their schema in order to make sense of new information. The last element to Piaget’s theory broke down development into four key stages: sensorimotor, pre-operational, concrete operational, and formal operational (simply). These four stages explain the key concepts that are developed within a certain period of development in a child’s life. Erik Erikson, a psychologist born in 1902; developed an eight-stage process that explains the psychosocial theory of development. …show more content…
These eight stages began at birth and continue to develop until late adulthood. Erikson’s stages of psychosocial theory include trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame and doubt, initiative vs. guilt, competence vs. inferiority, identity vs. role confusion, intimacy vs. isolation, generatively vs. stagnation, and integrity vs. despair (bookcite). The success of one stage is dependent on the completion of the prior stage. Each stage builds upon new “problems to be solved” (bookcite 95 para 10 ). Erikson’s fourth stage of development explains how vital it is for a child to master every stage of psychosocial development; “The child who, because of his successive and successful resolutions of earlier psychosocial crisis, is trusting, autonomous, and …show more content…
Both psychologist also believed that maturation “the process of physical and mental growth that is determined by heredity” plays a role in development (bookpg 114 para 3). Piaget’s perspective on development and Erikson’s initiative vs. guilt stage on development both encompass exploring and learning through doing as key to growth. According to these theories, a child in a classroom learns information best by explore their surroundings and participate in various activities instead of only being taught
Jean Piaget, a psychologist born in 1896, was the first person to develop a well thought out theory on connectivity in children. While employed at the Binet Institue; Piaget became interested in why children gave the wrong answers to questions and how their answers were similar (bookcite). This set Piaget on a quest to show how a child 's thought process differs from an adult 's (simplypsy). Jean Piaget’s cognitive theory consisted of three main factors: schemas, adaptation, and stages of development (simply). Piaget believed that we are all born with a limited number of intuitive schemas which grow with experiences (simply). “Piaget called the schema the basic building block of intelligent behavior”, or an idea which evolves to become more detailed with knowledge (simply). The second component of Piaget 's cognitive theory explains adaptation; how a person 's knowledge or intellect changes with new information. The three stages of adaptation are assimilation, accommodation, and equilibration. At a young age, children use assimilation to make sense of new objects and fit them into categories of things they already know (bookcite). Accommodation occurs when a child takes in new information that adds to the knowledge of what they already know (bookcite). For example instead of assuming everything that drives is a car, a child will start to accommodate new categories consisting of objects that drive such as, trucks, tractors, and minivans. Equilibration, the third phase of adaptation; occurs when a child changes their schema in order to make sense of new information. The last element to Piaget’s theory broke down development into four key stages: sensorimotor, pre-operational, concrete operational, and formal operational (simply). These four stages explain the key concepts that are developed within a certain period of development in a child’s life. Erik Erikson, a psychologist born in 1902; developed an eight-stage process that explains the psychosocial theory of development. …show more content…
These eight stages began at birth and continue to develop until late adulthood. Erikson’s stages of psychosocial theory include trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame and doubt, initiative vs. guilt, competence vs. inferiority, identity vs. role confusion, intimacy vs. isolation, generatively vs. stagnation, and integrity vs. despair (bookcite). The success of one stage is dependent on the completion of the prior stage. Each stage builds upon new “problems to be solved” (bookcite 95 para 10 ). Erikson’s fourth stage of development explains how vital it is for a child to master every stage of psychosocial development; “The child who, because of his successive and successful resolutions of earlier psychosocial crisis, is trusting, autonomous, and …show more content…
Both psychologist also believed that maturation “the process of physical and mental growth that is determined by heredity” plays a role in development (bookpg 114 para 3). Piaget’s perspective on development and Erikson’s initiative vs. guilt stage on development both encompass exploring and learning through doing as key to growth. According to these theories, a child in a classroom learns information best by explore their surroundings and participate in various activities instead of only being taught